Sanitary mouthpiece for telephones.



M. M. MARCUSE.

SANITARY MOUTHPIECE FOR TELEPHONES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 25, 1911.

1,017,680, Patented Feb. 20, 19121 VWT/VESSES UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MOSES MITTELDORFER MARCUSE, OF FAB ROCKAWAY, NEW YORK, ASSIG-NOB TO WEST DISINFECTING 00., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SANITARY MOUTHPIECE FOR TELEPHONES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Moses M. MARcUsE, a. citizen of the United States, residing at Far Rockaway, county of Queens, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sanitary Mouthpieces for Telephones, of which the follow- 111%;lS a specification.

his invention relates to mouth pieces, and particularl to the mouth piece of a telephone or 1i e transmitter, into which the user directs his voice in carrying on a conversation at a distance.

The dangers of contagion from the use of telephones used by more than one person are so great as to constitute a menace to public health. Not only is this true of the public or semi-public telephones, but. also of the private instrument, as it has been found that the collection of atmospheric dust in the telephone mouth piece is a source of ill-- fection on account of the inhalation of that dust, with the accompanying germs, in every use of the instrument. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance that means he provided for protecting the user of the telephone so that it will not endanger the health of the public. Various attempts have been made to provide a mouth piece which should be sanitary and capable of maintaining itself in a sterile condition. The nature of the instrument and its usage, however, are such as to impose many serious limitations upon the problem and to render it a'matter of extreme difiiculty to devise a means suflicientl'y simple and yet efl'ect-ive.

To the end of producing a mouth piece as above described, I have devised my present invention, which I will more fully describe in the specification .which follows. As illustrative of my invention I shall show and describe a form of mouth piece which I have found well adapted to practical use and capable of protection and service under actual practical conditions of telephone usage.

In this application I shall treat of my invention in the terms of an electric telephone mouth piece, although it will be understood that I do not intend to limitmyself by such language to this particular type of instrument, as a mouth piece is obviously capable of other usages, such as speaking tubes and the like.

specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 25, 1911.

Patented Feb. 20, 1912.

Serial No. 604,655. r i

In the drawings which form a part of the specification I have shown the form referred tom the specification, like reference numerals being employed throughout both to indicate corresponding parts.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a view of a telephone transmitter equipped with my mouth piece, Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional. view of a mouth piece with cover closed, and Fig. 3 is a front view of the same with cover open, exposing the outer diaphragm.

The usual casing l is fitted with a bell shaped mouth piece 2. Over the outer end of the mouth piece is located a protective diaphragm 3 which is preferably perforated, as at 4, for the more ready transmission of the sound waves. To the diaphragm 3 is pivoted a shutter 5 having a central cup or chamber 6 in which is located an absorptive pad 7 of felt or other material. The pad 7 is preferably held in place by a fastener 8 and is kept saturated with some suitable disinfecting, deodorizing or germicidal solution.

The shutter 5 swings laterally on its pivot 9 to expose the protective diaphragm 3, at the same time wiping across its surface to leave a moist film of the solution. The mouth piece is, therefore, when not in use, covered by the shutter 5 and, when in use, presents to the user a surface free from dust and freshly wiped by a sterilizing pad which not only leaves it cleansed of any dirt or germs but deodorized, no matter how unsanitary the circumstances of its last use.

Various modifications may obviously be made in the form and arrangement of the shutter and protective diaphragm and in the construction and arrangement. of the parts, all without departing from the spirit of my invention if within the limits of the appended claims. 4

What I, therefore, claim and desire tt) secure by Letters Patent is 1. In combination with the mouth piece of a telephone transmitter an auxiliary diaphragm mounted thereon, means for securing said diaphragm to said mouth piece, a laterally movable shutter pivoted to said diaphragm and having a recess on the inner face thereof, a pad of absorptive material in said recess and adapted to contain a disinfectant to wipe across said diaphragm in the lateral movement of said shutter.

2. An auxiliary diaphragm for the mouth piece of a telephone transmitter comprising a disk, means on the margin of said disk for mounting said diaphragm upon a telephone mouth piece, a laterally movable shutter pivoted to said diaphragm and having a central cupped portion there- 10 in, an opening on its inner face and an absorptive pad in said shutter cup for holding a disinfectant to wipe said diaphragm, in the lateral movement of said shutter.

In testimeny whereof, I aflix' my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MOSES MITTELDORFER MARC USE.

Vv'itnesses F. E. CAYE, L. O. KOPIELMAN. 

